Reducing post-harvest losses helps farmers fetch more income on the market. One smallholder farmer, Kevin Chimombe (44), is now reaping better income.
Kevin works with PELUM Zimbabwe member and Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP) Partner, Towards Sustainable Use of Resources Organisation (TSURO) Trust in Chimanimani district, eastern Zimbabwe.
Before he began working with TSURO he was trapped in the conventional agriculture system and could not produce enough for his family. Today Kevin not only grows crops to feed his family but also focuses on income generation. He grows horticulture crops such as beans and different types of green vegetables and tomatoes.
“I mainly focus on growing beans and this season I grew 0.3 hectares of beans. I grew 3 varieties of beans,” says Kevin.
Kevin says he has mastered the dynamics of supply and demand, taking advantage of periods where demand is high and supply is low.
“I grow beans because they have a more ready market. They are easy to preserve over a long period when the market is not profitable. I keep them and sell them when they can fetch a better price,” says Kevin.
Kevin does the same with his vegetables, he sun dries and sells them when they are more profitable.
Kevin shows that preservation and processing techniques have a critical role to play in boosting farmers’ income.